Banking institutions frequently offer Internet banking products and services to their customers as an alternative to traditional “brick and mortar” banking channels. Such products and services are typically provided via a user interface (UI) of a secure banking Web site that is hosted by the bank and that is remotely accessible by its customers using, for example, a personal computer (PC) or other network-enabled device. Products and services that may be offered to Internet banking customers include, for example, account balance inquiries, electronic funds transfers, transaction information downloads, bill presentment and payment, loan applications, and investment services. From a customer standpoint, advantages of Internet banking include the ability to interact with their banking institution any time from virtually any location, the ability to manage their finances from a single source, and increased transactional speed. Internet banking additionally provides significant economic benefits to the banking institution by reducing paper handling and teller interactions.
For banking institutions, customer visualization of and interaction with information presented via the UI plays a large role in determining customer satisfaction and, consequently, customer enrollment and retention. For many customers, the ability to quickly assess and understand their financial condition based on, for example, the amount of money currently available to spend, current and upcoming financial obligations, and as well as their progress in meeting future financial goals, is essential. Similarly, the ability to distribute funds between accounts in a manner that enhances the customer's understanding of his finances is desirable.
Internet banking UIs currently in use do not adequately consolidate and present customer information such that customers may quickly assess financial conditions to determine if any adjustments are necessary. Additionally, to the extent that a user may be able to glean the information necessary to perform such an assessment, distributing funds between accounts is typically performed using text-input features that add little to the customer's understanding of account dynamics.